Burnham’s speech will see him promise an “honest conversation” with voters about difficult subjects, alongside the overall message of “hope” that he has made the theme of the four-day gathering.
He is expected to say that he initially wanted to “give the usual tub-thumping conference speech” but that “the patriot in me tells me something very different is needed”.
It comes ahead of a tricky Budget at the end of next month, where the room for manoeuvre facing the prime minister has been narrowed by recent rises to the cost of UK borrowing.
Ahead of the speech, the prime minister has promised to reveal details of how he intends to fund his plans to provide free social care services to everyone in England.
He has said he wants to put his his plans before voters at the next general election, which legally must be held by August 2029 at the latest, before aiming to roll out the new system from 2030.
There has been speculation that in his efforts to free up future funding for his social care plans, the prime minister could signal his willingness to review the “triple lock” uprating policy for the state pension.
The policy – under which pension payments rise annually by the highest of 2.5%, inflation, or average wage rises – is expected to add billions to the cost of pensions in future years because of the UK’s ageing population.
On Monday, Chancellor John Healey declined to guarantee the promise – which has featured in every Labour manifesto since 2015 – would feature in the party’s blueprint for voters at the next election.
“The manifesto will be the manifesto at the time, I’m not going to do that now,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
